The Golden Path
by Esmara
Summary: An old museum on the colony of Neo-Nippon holds a few secrets, besides the reason behind its bizarre shape. When dark forces begin contaminating the community of islands and threaten to spread to the rest of the world, can two best friends who were in the right place at the wrong time help the owners of the museum put a stop to it? Sequel to How I Became Ayame
1. Chapter 1

_AAAAAH this sequel has been in my head FOREVER. Finally, the first chapter of my sequel to How I Became Ayame! Enjoy!_

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Chapter 1: The Nippon History Museum

It was a family-owned business, dedicated to the preservation of artifacts from long before anyone's time. It held objects ancient even by standards from eons ago. To people in the 21st century they were old; now, in the 26th, they were beyond ancient. It was the shock of many an archeologists' life to find the contents perfectly intact and preserved, scrolls and writings looking as if they'd been created yesterday.

The first thing anyone noticed in the museum was the great tree that sprung up through the floor and ceiling, stretching its cherry blossoms to the heavens as light poured in through the glass-lined skylight, tinted pink from the flowers. It was astonishingly thick and impossibly tall, dominating the museum with its gargantuan presence. As people passed the tree to explore the exhibits, they would sometimes feel a sense of refreshment, as if stepping into a gust of fresh air. A small sign next to the hole in the floor the tree sprung from indicated it had been planted when the museum was founded, centuries ago.

The museum itself was hard to ignore, even from the outside; Neo-Nippon was a small cluster of islands, and the structure took up the entirety of one of the smaller plots of land declared too small to develop for housing. People would see the museum, accessible by hover board or by boat, whenever they glanced over their shoulders in its direction, due to its sheer size and the great tree that protruded through its roof. It was the pet business of Neo-Nippon, the one relative the other islands could never ignore but were fond of anyway.

The walls of the building were stone and curved, lined with blue paint in geometric depictions of strange beings that scared and enticed visitors; _learn our secrets, _they sang silently from the walls as visitors ventured in, _discover who we are. _And they did, following the multiple paths that emerged from the center of the main floor's singular path, into rooms lined with artifacts and scrolls, pottery and paintings of demons and gods, and everything in between.

There were two spiraling stairways at the center of the main path and its many branches, one leading up to the roof where kids could collect fallen cherry blossoms from the great tree and hear stories of ancient Nippon told by the owners' eldest daughter, currently heavy with her second child and draped in an old but well-kept gown; the one leading down led the curious to the roots of the great tree, fed by a never-empty spring of clean water lined with guardian statues. The path from the stairs to the spring was earthy and edged with brown rocks; at its end, one could see a hollow in the tree, and a small mound with two short blades sitting on it, a golden plaque in old characters beneath and being polished by the youngest daughter, twelve and quiet and wearing robes that were far too large. When she finished polishing, one could decipher "in memory" from the plaque, partially concealed by water. The middle child, the only son of the owners, would then chide her for getting her gown wet again, and she would ignore him to collect flowers from the water.

The owners were an old couple, who anyone could see had been together – and in love – for longer than most visitors had been alive. The husband would faithfully push his wife's hover-chair everywhere, even as she insisted she didn't need the help, but in a tone that suggested that it was simply the old woman's way of saying "thank you". His hair was white and tied up above his head, hanging to his waist in a ponytail that seemed to split in two at the bottom, and he was typically dressed in red, a flute tied at his waist.

The woman, forever sitting in the device and muttering about "wheelchairs" occasionally, was a hardy-looking woman, with a long scar over one eye and coal-black hair streaked with silver, pinned by a flower comb that needed tending to. Anyone who asked how she got crippled would receive a different story involving thugs or ninjas; her husband would cluck his tongue but say nothing, save a term of endearment in a foreign language. She had an old sword strapped to her back, and a length of ribbon woven between her fingers; she would occasionally grip it and close her eyes, as if thinking, and her husband would put a hand on her shoulder with a sad smile on his face. Most of the time, however, she was seen chasing after children who tried to tear the scrolls, husband in hot pursuit and laughing, their son rolling his eyes whenever he saw them.

The main mystery of the museum – and there were a few, whispered by visitors and inhabitants of Neo-Nippon – was one that most ignored, only questioning when in bouts of idle thought or in meetings or lectures. It was one of those questions that wouldn't occur to them until they'd left, and were away from the distractions of the vibrant exhibits, and they always forget to ask whenever they returned. _Why, _it would echo quietly in their heads, _is the museum shaped like a boat?_


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2: The Release

"Ow!"

"And that, kids, is why you park before getting off your hover board." Emae rolled her eyes as she pushed herself off the grass, glaring at her friend who dismounted his own hover board with ease. "Don't look at me like that, you are the reason for all of your own injuries." Nahuel smirked, holding a hand out. Emae swatted it away, and he shrugged as she got up, before turning to the building. "This is a bad idea, Em."

"Only if Mrs. Yue catches us doing it." Emae grinned, and Nahuel shook his head. "C'mon, this'll be fun! Who knows what cool secrets this place has?"

"The first being if Mrs. Yue's sword is real." Nahuel looked up at the large boat-shaped structure; at night, the tree's cluster of blossoms and leaves looked like a big, ominous cloud of purple, not a vibrant symbol of life. "And how good she is at knocking off heads with it." Emae laughed, and ran up to the "ship", quickly getting to scaling the walls. Nahuel stared for a moment. "Crazy girl," he muttered as she reached the open door, clinging to the doorway as she got off the wall and onto the protruding bit of walkway that had not been withdrawn at closing time. Emae flashed a thumbs-up, and started to dart in. A second later, Nahuel heard a _thud. _

"There's a force field!" Emae called from above, and Nahuel nodded.

"Did you really think they'd be stupid enough not to have one? Mr. Yue's not so crazy he'd just leave the door open at night!" A chill went up Nahuel's spine; it felt like something was watching, but a glance up netted only the darkness of the sky and faint stars, the shadow over the moon making it impossible to see too far. Nahuel groaned as he heard another thud, before walking up to the wall.

He had to admit, whoever created these wall-scaling shoes and gloves was a genius. He got to the top as his cousin pressed her palms against the invisible wall, a frown on her normally playful face.

"I don't get it…" she pushed at it slightly. "No electricity, no glass… just a big, solid nothing." She glanced at her watch, which glowed in the nighttime. "Look, it's not picking anything up besides air. There's nothing blocking it… and yet…" Nahuel held his hand out; something pushed back as a wall would.

And yet, it looked like there was nothing.

"Huh." Nahuel shrugged. "Well, that's a bummer. Guess we have to head back and forget about this stupidity." He started to turn, but his cousin grabbed him and turned him to face the not-wall.

"No way! We have to figure this out. How can we not get in if there's nothing blocking us?"

"The power of conscience?" Emae glared. "Look, I don't know, okay? I don't want to be here, and I don't want to do this. Can we go home?"

"No!" Emae stepped around him, looking at the reading on her "watch" again. "Nothing… just a whole bunch of air…"

"If it's air, why don't you just blow it away?" Emae rolled her eyes. "Hey, my guess is as good as yours."

That's the dumbest "guess" I've ever heard."

"Really? Fine, I'll blow it away. And if you can't come up with anything else, we're leaving." Nahuel pressed his palm on the nothing, and took in a breath, glancing at Emae. Then, as if sending the seeds off a dandelion, he blew on it.

_Thud. _

"Whoa! Cousin, you're a genius!"

"Ugh." Nahuel sat up from the ground, the wall having vanished and taking his source of support. "You've gotta be kidding me…" Emae dashed past him, and he got up, groaning. "This is a bad idea…"

"Check it!" Her voice was hushed as Em pressed a button on her watch, lighting up the inside of the hall. "It all looks so cool at night! C'mon!" She ran further in, towards the stairs. "Hey, what do you think the little memorial looks like at night?" He couldn't answer, because she was down the stairs by the time he'd gotten his own watch set to "flashlight".

It was just as Nahuel's eyes adjusted to the sudden burst of light that Emae screamed.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3: Unleashed

"Emae!" Nahuel darted for the stairs. "Em!"No answer. He didn't waste time running down the spiral, instead jumping in the center and grabbing the rail partway down. He did this several times, each fall just short enough not to hurt, before hitting the ground. The sound of metal clanging metal sang in the air, and as he approached it, an arm grabbed him and he was pulled back. He spun around, hand flying for an imaginary gun, until he recognized Em's eyes. "Emae!"

"Shh!" She spun him around and pointed, turning Nahuel around again. He heard the chaos before he saw it.

Hisses, bites, metal singing in the air, screams of pain, the sound of somebody hitting the ground. People were shouting at inhuman things, swinging blades, flashing colors as more and more shadowy beasts moved past them and went flying up the stairs.

It was the youngest daughter he saw first, hiding behind the tree and cradling her sister's young son in her arms, watching the fight with a look of terror. The little boy was hugging her and refusing to look while his mother swung a pair of blades through a beast and sent it falling in pieces. The son was throwing punches with wrapped knuckles, and a man glowing white sent flashes of colored light at the larger ones and shrunk them down.

"There's too many…" Nahuel muttered, pulling back a bit, "we can't take those guys…" Emae's hand was on his shoulder. "What?" She pointed, and he looked just in time to see three blades slice through the biggest one.

"It's Mr. and Mrs. Yue," Emae whispered.

The matriarch had swung the blade she kept strapped to her back into its stomach, and was standing upright and smirking. The creature let out a how of pain from the X Mr. Yue, serious-faced and standing upright, had put on its chest, and then wailed as a faint _hiss _filled the suddenly silent air. Nahuel glanced down; the woman's blade was glowing, and the creature's flesh was _melting _where the metal had sunk in. It crumbled to the ground, and an instant later the rest flew for the stairs in fright, scattered and panicked.

"Whoa…" Emae ran out from behind Nahuel. "That was so cool!" The whole family looked at her. Mrs. Yue turned to her husband.

"You turned on the shield, right?!"

"I did," the son said.

"Then how did she get in?!"

"I blew on it," Nahuel stepped out. _Well, our cover is blown anyway… _"it's not a very good one."

"You _blew _on it?!" Mrs. Yue grabbed her husband's shoulders. "He _blew _on it?! I thought you said the other two shields were fixed! He _blew _on it!"

"What's the big problem?" Emae grinned, and Nahuel slapped his forehead. "That was awesome!"

"You don't understand," the glowing man responded, "If two normal humans can get in, there's nothing stopping the demons from getting out."

"And everywhere in Neo-Nippon…" Mr. Yue murmured, a look of regret on his face. Nahuel opened his mouth to speak when a hand clamped on his shoulder.

"Alright, you two," Mrs. Yue re-sheathed the blade and glared at them, "You let these monsters out after we've been containing them for the past few millennia, now you're going to help us get them back it."

"But Mom, they have no experience with-"

"Neither did I, and I killed the Lord of Darkness, didn't I? I've made my decision." Her husband put a hand on her shoulder.

"Iris…"

"Don't "Iris" me, Waka, you did the same damn thing when I was their age." Mrs. Yue smirked at Nahuel and Emae's frightened faces. "Now, what're your names?"


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4: History, Revisited

"This is bad." Everyone had gathered at the door, where they could vaguely see dark clouds scattering to the different islands.

"Thank you, Captain Obvious." Mrs. Yue sighed. "Do you have any idea how much trouble those things caused the first time they got out?"

"How much?" Em looked at the old woman, who made a grand sweep to the building.

"Enough to fill this whole museum! Heck, it _does _fill this museum!"

"Mom…" Aiko hugged her son close to her, "We'll get them again, right?"

"That's not the point," Mrs. Yue shook her head. "The point is that they've already cost two kingdoms their rulers, countless people their lives and family, and…" She clenched the ribbon in her hand, "…a very good friend. I won't let that happen again." She turned to Emae and Nahuel. "And you're going to help me make sure it doesn't."

"Sweet!"

"No, Em, not sweet." Nahuel glared at the family. "You can't just drag us into this!"

"Can and did."

"Who do you think you are, anyway?!"

"I'm Iris," Mrs. Yue answered, "and my husband is Waka. "Yue" was his poor idea of a name; "Moon" of all things, as if that was the cleverest thing in the world." She rolled her eyes. "We're the keepers of those things that escaped."

"This," MR. Yu- _Waka _said with a grand gesture to the whole structure, "is the Ark of Yamato, a great ship that was originally built to carry cargo to the heavens."

"Until my husband royally messed up," Iris added, "and brought it to the heavens without _checking _the cargo first."

"…Yes," Waka sighed. "It was full of demons, and they destroyed the heavens before the Ark crashed on Earth. We," he gestured to Iris and himself, "helped gather them all back into the ship, but weren't able to destroy their leader properly."

"So we sealed the thing inside the ship, and used this," Iris pointed at the tree, "Keibihana, to act as a barrier, along with those daggers on the memorial." She sighed. "But it wasn't enough."

"Wait, wait," Nahuel shook his head. "You mean to tell me you're actually demon hunters? And this entire museum is a celestial prison?!"

"Yes," Waka said, "of Moon Tribe design."

"Huh?!"

"That's why it gets weak once a month," Aiko added. "Because the moon doesn't get any light and can't guard the ship, so the vessel loses its power. We've been keeping them inside for centuries, but they're getting to be too strong. We couldn't take them."

"And now, thanks to you guys," Usagi grunted, "they're loose. Great job dooming us all!"

"Brother!" Aiko frowned at Usagi. "They didn't know!"

"They still broke in!"

"Okay, that's enough," Iris held a hand up. "Aiko, go take your son to his room and put up the barrier to the door. We don't want any child possession. Usagi, you go to Konohanako and tell him we need to get Ammy and Issun." Both ran off in different directions. "Hana, make sure your brother doesn't get him angry." The little girl nodded and ran after Usagi. Iris turned to Nahuel and Emae. "Now, what do you two know about demon fighting?"

"Nothing." They both responded, looking at each other. Emae was thrilled. Nahuel was not.

"Neither did I," Iris poked Nahuel in the chest, "And look at me now."

"Old lady."

"Watch it, kid. What's going to happen is we're going to call some old friends, and then divide and conquer the islands of Neo-Nippon until we've made sure it's safe, then come back here and try to re-seal them if their leader – who thanks to you has probably split into a slew of new behemoths – can't be destroyed. Ever played Pokemon?"

"Giga and Mega are coming out this fall!" Emae grinned, Nahuel groaning.

"Same concept, we gotta catch them all. Now, follow me. Let's hope Usagi didn't piss the tree off again…" She walked toward the stairs, and Emae dashed after her.

"Nahuel!" He sighed, and followed.

"If we get killed, breaking in was _your _dumb idea."


End file.
